Winsome

Definition: generally pleasing and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence

Why I Looked It Up

I had known the word for years, and had a vague of idea of what it meant, but I wanted to check if there were any subtleties.

But…and this is funny…I found it in via NY Times article entitled about a Republican politician: “'I Look Like the Strategy’: Winsome Sears Wants Black Voters to Rethink the G.O.P.”

I read that as “Sears [a last name], who is winsome.” Like, the woman’s personality embodied the word “winsome.”

I kept reading the article, trying to find some reference to her winsome-ness. I couldn’t find anything.

And then I realized: her first name is Winsome. Her name is…Winsome Sears.

Ah well. I still looked it up, so…

Postscript

I found this tweet from Skye Jethani about what he calls “the war on winsome-ness.” In the video, he says that many Christian leaders are angry.

[They’re not angry] because David French or Tim Keller are being winsome or kind, they’re upset with David French and Tim Keller because French and Keller aren’t afraid.

Jethani seems to be talking about a current tendency among Christian leaders to be apocalyptic and confrontational – the opposites of “winsome.”